What has changed with our T4 type slips for 2020?

Anyone who has received a T4 slip from an employer, or a T4A slip from the CRA or the T4E slip from Service Canada, for 2020, will notice things are a bit different than previous years.

What are these changes and why are they there?

The changes to these forms are in direct response to the emergency and recovery benefits that millions of Canadians received in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Let’s review each form:

T4: The T4 slip is a form that if you’ve been employed in other years, you’re used to seeing. It reports on your employment earnings, taxes paid and other items like contributions to CPP, EI, and even company pensions.

For 2020, four new boxes were added in the Other Information area of the T4, normally where you might see an amount for box 40 for a taxable benefit, for example.

The four new boxes, boxes 57, 58, 59, and 60, all correspond to the CERB periods in 2020. The CRA has required employers to advise on what portion of their employees’ employment earnings, shown in box 14, were paid out in those corresponding periods.  They are set out as follows:

If you applied to CERB, you would know that your CERB benefit was based on your earnings, and this is a way to confirm your earnings for those periods.

T4A: The T4A slip is a form that reports on other remuneration, usually for self-employed commissioned earnings, sub-contractor earnings (fees for services), or pension and annuity payments.  For 2020, the T4A has been used by the CRA, if you applied for and received any of the emergency and recovery benefits, through them.

If through the CRA, you applied and received the CERB, CESB, CRB, CRCB, CRSB, or any other provincial or territorial COVID-19 assistance, you will receive a T4A from the CRA; if you are a resident of Québec, you will also receive a RL-1 slip.  On the T4A, there are several boxes, 197 to 204, that reflect those emergency and recovery benefit amounts.  They are set out as follows:

(* for eligible students with disabilities or dependents)

T4E: The T4E slip is a form issued by Service Canada for those is receipt of benefits like Employment Insurance or Parental Benefits.

If you received CERB through Service Canada, the amount will be reported in box 14, along with any other benefits received through Service Canada.

If you live in Québec, you will also receive a T4E (Q) slip.

No matter the slip you receive, be it from an employer or the government, always double check the information; errors do happen.

Immediately contact your employer for your T4, the CRA for the T4A or Service Canada for the T4E, if you notice an error.